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Wine Description
The Story
Named after the historic property first established in 1892. A true reflection of the terroir, St. Andrews wines exemplify the very best of handcrafted Clare Valley winemaking. The first Taylors St. Andrews wines were released in 1999 and have developed a reputation as benchmark examples of great Clare Valley wine. As our flagship, St Andrews is only released in the finest vintages.
The St. Andrews range is named after the historic property first established by Scottish immigrants in 1892. For forty years St. Andrews was one of the leading wine producers in the Clare Valley but sadly, ceased operating when it was sold in 1934. Bill Taylor quickly recognised the potential of the adjacent St. Andrews property when he was first establishing his vineyards in the Clare Valley, and wanted to make it a part of the family's estate. So in 1995 the family purchased the property and became proud custodians of a piece of Australian wine history. They immediately went about the task of re-creating the glory days by once again planting vines on the rich, fertile soils and in 1999 the first St. Andrews wines from Taylors were released. These wines are particularly special with fruit sourced from the best blocks on the estate and only crafted in the best vintages, they're a true testament to our philosophy of 'respect the fruit'. The hand-crafted approach extends beyond the winemaking too as even the labels are hand applied. This modern version of St. Andrews now has a heritage that spans almost two decades. Over this time, the wines have developed a well-deserved reputation - not only as benchmark Clare Valley styles but also standing tall amongst the best from Australia.
At release, the wine is a youthful pale straw colour with vibrant green hue to the edges. The wine has ripe stone fruit aromas along with hints of tropical fruit and subtle citrus zest. Enticing sweet spice and savoury cashew nut from the French oak add complexity to the bouquet. This is a medium-bodied yet sumptuous wine with an enjoyable creaminess to the mid-palate. Flavours of juicy white fleshed stone fruit are evident along with cleansing citrus at the finish which has wonderful persistence and length from the use of quality French oak.
Wine Information
In the growing season leading up to vintage 2016, rainfall was below average and whilst we saw only around 76% of the long term average fall, it was not the amount that had the biggest impact however; it was the timing of the rainfall. Mother Nature saw fit to dole out just the right amount of water at just the right time for maximum positive impact on the vine’s health and importantly, the quality of the fruit produced. In fact, this was just one of the factors at play when it comes to vintage 2016 being lauded as one of the great vintages. Firstly, the vines were ‘stress free’ heading into the winter period, allowing them to store extra nutrients and creating the potential for a superior fruit crop in 2016. Secondly, conditions were ideal during flowering which set us up for good yields and then lastly, whilst it was a relatively dry spring, the threat of frost did not eventuate. All these conditions combined to create what called be described as ‘the perfect storm’ and the vineyard and winemaking team were excited about the quantity and quality of the fruit.
Vintage 2017
AUSTRALIA VINTAGE REPORT: The 2017 winegrape crush is estimated to be 1.93 million tonnes, based on responses received by the Wine Sector Survey 2017. This crush is 5 per cent higher than the 2016 final crush figure of 1.84 million tonnes (Department of Agriculture and Water Resources – Levies recorded figure). It is the third consecutive vintage where the tonnes crushed have increased.
Additional tonnes this year came relatively equally from the cool and temperate regions of Australia and the warm inland regions (Riverina, Murray Darling-Swan Hill and Riverland). However, the tonnes from the cool and temperate regions increased by 9 per cent compared to a 3 per cent increase in the warm inland regions.
Most regions recorded an increase in tonnes crushed including: Riverland, Riverina, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Clare Valley, Wrattonbully, Margaret River, King Valley, Eden Valley, Heathcote, Tasmania, Orange, Gundagai, Grampians, Hunter Valley, Hilltops, Alpine Valleys and Rutherglen.
Regions where the tonnes crushed declined in 2017 included Murray Darling-Swan Hill, Langhorne Creek, Padthaway, Adelaide Hills, Currency Creek, Goulburn Valley, Cowra, Swan District, Mount Benson, Robe and Mudgee.
The 2017 red variety crush is estimated to be 1,062,660 tonnes – an increase of 112,000 tonnes (up 12 per cent) compared with 2016. The white variety crush is estimated to be 866,970 tonnes, a decrease of 19,000 tonnes (down 2 per cent) compared with 2016. Red varieties increased their share of the crush to 55 per cent, compared with 52 per cent in 2016.
The top three red varieties by volume were Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, together accounting for 85 per cent of the total red crush. Shiraz accounted for 47 per cent of the red crush (up slightly from 2016) while the Cabernet Sauvignon share fell from 27 per cent to 26 per cent and Merlot remained at 12 per cent.
Among the whites, Chardonnay remains the dominant variety. However, its share fell from 47 per cent in 2016 to 42 per cent this year with the Chardonnay crush down 13 per cent.
2017 will also be a good year for Grenache. It’s a grape whose time has come, and has indeed been coming for a few years. It’s a warm-climate grape that does particularly well in regions such as McLaren Vale. Now that consumers have got over their strange obsession with dark colour and lots of structure in their red wines, Grenache is allowed to do what it does best: make elegant, perfumed, somewhat lighter-coloured reds that are the equivalent of the Pinot Noir of the warmer climates.
Pinot Noir is also going from strength to strength, and superb examples are coming from Tasmania, Mornington Peninsular, Macedon Ranges and cooler parts of the Yarra Valley. 2017 will be a good year for Pinot, and also for Australian wines’ cool climate regions generally.
Chardonnay is one grape where there has been a shift in style, and 2017 could see it become even more interesting. ‘As you’re well aware there’s been a trend for quite a few years for "size zero” Chardonnay, early picked, skinny and with a very strong sulphidy character,’ says Wildman. ‘The better examples of these wines have dominated at the wine shows and therefore have further driven the style (think Vasse Felix Heytesbury, Penfolds Bin A, Oakridge 864). ’However, this style of Chardonnay has come under criticism because it’s almost as if the foot has been made to fit the slipper, and they aren’t actually all that nice to drink. As a consequence, Wildman notes, there are now fewer wines in this skinny-sulphidy style being seen. ‘The pendulum seems to have swung back (rapidly) towards the middle ground, where the wines have some weight, texture and ripeness, are not afraid of some new oak, and the sulphides have been dialed back to just a whisper of struck match, making the wines not too skinny, not too fat, but "just right”.’ He reckons that as the 2016 wines hit the shelves next year this trend for more balanced wines will increase.